Military ambulance.



P. P. ALEX.

MILITARY AMBULANCE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I9. 1916. ,0% Pimm@ July I0, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

P. P. ALEX.

MILIARY AMBULANCE.

APPucATmN msu me, 19 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- Wa ons and more es )eciall i to ambulances; the a 'iices oi the two frames is coli Work attached to hisI harness, and second` the lixed frame l), and a pulley 13 surroiiinlm 25 Figure l is a. side elevation. produce a Shoulder 16 and is pivoted at l'i' to PAUL P. ALEX, QF WGRCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS MILITARY AMBULANC'...

Lgggqimg. Specification of `Letters Patent. Parigi; @ad gully' j gli @il il;

Application filed December 19, 1916. Seri-a1 No. 137,862.

To aZZw/liom t may concern. bar l ot' ay substantially triangular 'traine Bev it'known that l, PAUL l. Amin. a citiiliade ot' piping or other light iiiaterial7 and zen ofthe United States, residing at Worcesoi such size that its apen 5 rises For some ter, in the county, ol Worcester and State distance above the animals bark. lilies@ e: 5 of lllassachusetts. have invented new and frames are duplicates. and while both muy useful improvements in lllililitary .linibiibe detachably connected willithe harness. lances, of which the following is a sperilica will hereinafter i'ei'er to one as the ti tion, iraiue and the other the detacln blc iran This invention relatesl to carriages and purposes which willv appear. Sonne and the object of the saine is to produce a bridge herein shown consisting; of are; military ambulance cainible of being uioiintuicnibers. The first is an arin (l which ist;

ed upon a horse or other draft animal and oi nected by a knuckle joint i with the upii i Sustaining a stretcher so as to carry the pa end of the detachable iframe 8, as heat seen` in,

15 tient over the animal?,I hack. Fig. and the other two members the The invention consists primarily iii the links lll and ll of a. toggle lever which construction by nieans ot' which a stretcher yShown distended in lii 5 and is l'mucldad of this kind may he slung above the animal downward in Fig. 6. g'lhe inner end of the andA supi''i'ted in that position by a frameinner link l() is pivoted at l2 to the apen oi arlly in means whereby the stretcher may loe the pivot; the meeting ends of the 'two links raised into thil 'osition desired-all as hereare pivoted together. as at ll, and a. pulley inaflier more tiilly described and claimed 15 surrounds the pivot; and the outer und and as shown in the drawings wliereiin y 0i' the outer link ll is hentdownri'ard to a@ vFig. 2 is a plan view illustrating my inthe inner end of tlnx arin o. The latter has Vention as applied to a horse and a wounded a shoulder 18 contactingwith said bend when soldier on the stretcher. straightened out, as shown in Fig. 5, ainfl a,

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, viewed from the pulley 19 surrounds the pivot li. Also on gr.

opposite side to that seen in Fig. l.. the ends ofthe pivot pin 17 may hang a yoke Figwt is a plan View of the collapsible 20 which supports a spring 2l. Guy .ropes bridge hereinafter referred to. 22 are led from the corners of the stretcher Figs. 5 and l are rear elevations illus` Si@ a hook Q3 at the bottoni of a. pulley i trating the manner in which the stretcher is and the traine oi' the latter has an eye fl @la raised, and in the last two views the so at its upper end to engage a hooi( 26 ai; the called detachable traine is on the right side lower end oi the spring. :is best shown in ol the horseg whereas it is shown in the first Fig, 4. Leading vlroiu a point ou the iink three views on the left side. ll is a cable or IObe 2H which is carried down The letter A designates a draft animal. A and beneath-the pulley F24. and thence up and i horse is herein shown and hereinafter deover the pulley lll, then under the pulley lli scribed, although it might be an ox, a camel and over the pulley-lil. and is led :ii-ray to be or other animal. The letter H designates a drawn on by hand or attached to a suitable harness, herein shown as ay number of pads operating device, siiclras a lever 29. herein secured on the 4animal A by suitable straps. shown as piroted at Il() to ihe intermediate lo 4.5 lhel letter S designates instretcher, prefcn clip siipportingfthe lined traine 9.

ably ol that type having two rigid side hars With the parts thus far described it will suitably spaced, and a canvas bottom bche clear that when the detachable traine 8 tween iluni to support the patient. No novis disconnected from the harness and moved elty is claimed tor these elements, and the outward as far as the bridge permits. it :ica

pui-pose of the present invention is to sling needs some support in order that it will sus-- they stretcher over the animals back as sag tain the outer end ol the bridge, so that the l gesiod ahove. latter in turnwill sustain the load lifted by llach sidiy oi the harness carries three clips the blockaindtackle mechanism, and l prcl 1. 2 and 3, which are purposely set out of eriibly construct the support as follows: ila iio alinement with each other and intended. for clip 31 is mounted ou and stands at ri rlit the removable reception ofthe ai'ig'ularlower anglais to the lowi'r bar 'fl ol' this trained.

and mounted in said clip is a stem at the top ci an upper member whose lower end is forked, as at lower member 3e has its upper end pivoted at in said 'fork and adapted to be turned normally on its pivot by means oi a spring 36, while such turning is prevented by passing a pin through holes 3i' which register when the parts are alined, as will be clear. The lower end of the lower member in turn is forked, as at 88, and journaled therein is a wheel whose tire may be rubber, this fork being preferably bent as indicated in dotted lines in. 5, so as to produce a caster wheel effect.

lilith this type ol' support it will be seen that the detachable iframe 8 may be support ed from the ground 'when the lower member 34e is let down, as in liig. 5, and the wheel 3S touches the earths surface; but by removing the pin from the holes 37, the lower member mayb be allowed to move upward under the impulse of the spring BG, when it will assume a horizontal position between the horsels legs and out of the way. At this time the frame will be moved inward to the position shown in Fig. 6 and held by the clips 1, 2 and 3 on that side of the harness, and the bridge will collapse, as indicated. ln order that the supportingl pulley 19 may now stand centrally over the horses back, and the weight of the load thereon be rigidly sustained, the arm t3 is given the length shown and is connected with the frame 8 by knuckle joint 7, whereas the other arm ot the bridge which is made up of the two links l0 and ll of the toggle will at this time knuckle" downward, as suggested above, and as the liuuckle joint produced by the shoulders 16 and 18 permits.

The use of this improved ambulance is as .follow-vs: liet us assume that a wounded soldier is brought on the stretcher by Red Cross attendants and laid on the ground, as seen in Fig, 5, and that the parts oi this device are opened by distending the bridge as therein shown and the horse driven along one side of the stretcher so that the wheel 39 travels along' the other side thereof. The rope is paid out, and the pulley 2d descends until the hook 23 can be engaged. with a link or eye at the apex of the guy ropes on the stretcher, and then by drawing in on the rope by hand or swinging; the le ver Z9 downward the stretcher and the patient are raised to the position dotted in this view. t, by. lrnucltling the center ot the toggle lever downward its pivot il? is caused to appro' its pivot 1*?, with the result that the arin 6 and the load carried thereby, the detachable :trarne 8, and its wheeled support are all moved inward, or, in other words, toward the fixed frame l--thc caster wheel :gli u'icanwhile traveling over the ground, as ywill be understood. rllhis brings the stretcher over the back of the horse and the parte to 1' ,esente the position shown in Fig. G, and after the frame 8 has been secured in. the clips at the right side of the harness, thepin is removed from the alined holes 37 and the lower niember 3a of the support swung inward, as shown. Now, the animal may be driven or led to the field hospital or base hospital, and the value of this improved ambulance becomes apparent, because the character and topography of the land may be such as to render it advisable to employ a draft animal for transporting the patient, rather than a vehicle of any hind, a boat, or human hands-in fact boats may not be available, and there may be a scarcity of hospital attendants, or such there are may be otherwise employed. l might even suggest that in Sonie places, ns where an elephant is thc draft animal used, it is quite Within the spiritof my invention to amplify the structure so that a strebeher of double or triple width could be carried over the animals back, or even possible a special type of stretcher.1 built in tiers or otherwise, although det; Y this -feature are not. elaborated as it foi-:ns no part of the present invention, Having;u reached the hospital or point of first aid, the above described op* eration is reversed in order to open out the frm'nework und carefully lower the wounded soldier onto the ground or onto a cot or another stretcher so that he can be taken away by hand.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. An ambulance of the character describedcomprising uprights adapted to be connected with opposite sides of the harness of a draft animal in position to rise above its back, a bri e connecting the upper ends of the uprights, and block-and-tackle mechanism supported by said bridge for slinging a stretcher above the animals back.

2. ln an ambulance of the class described, the combination with a plurality of cli )s adapted for attachment to cach sidc of the harness of the draft animal on a broken line; of two substantially trian ru! u' frames, each having its lower bar del cctcd out ol' a straight line for engagement with one set of said clips and its apex rising to a point above the animals back, a bridge connecting said apices, and means for slingingr a stretcher from tbe bridge above the :iniina s back.

3. in an ambulance of the class described, the combination with two substantially trlangular trames, and means for connecting them with opposite sides of the harness of the draft animal so that their apiccs rise above its back; oi' a bridge connecting their arifes and capable of distenlrion when cil/her frame is detacl'xcd -t'roin the harness and moved laterally therefrom, means for .supporting such frame when so dctaclnul, arid stretcher-supporting means carried by the bridge. l

,4. In an ambulance of the class described, the combination with two substantially triangular frames, and means for connecting them with opposite sides of the harness of a draft animal so that their apicesrise above its back; of a bridge connecting their apices and capable of distention when either frame is detached from the and means for raising it off the ground when desired, and stretch ried by the bridge.

5 In an ambulance of the class described,`

the combination with the harness of a draft animal, a fixed frame-rising from one side thereof, clips on the other side thereof, a movable frame detachably mounted in said clips and rising therefrom, an extensible. bridge connecting the upper ends of the frames and adapted to lead across the animnls back, and stretcher-supporting means vcarried by the bridge; of an upright clip on the movable frame,

port comprising an upper member mounted 1n said cli arm are in subs antial alinement, and loadsupporting devices carried by this pivot.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

PAUL P. ALEX.

said arm,- 

